


one call away.

by starspangledpeaches



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Tony's perspective
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:15:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24786805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starspangledpeaches/pseuds/starspangledpeaches
Summary: tony was dreading the one thing he knew he was terrified of doing, but the universe was going to reek the consequences of impending doom if he didn't reach out to the man he swore he wouldn't rekindle the flame with.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Kudos: 11





	one call away.

**Author's Note:**

> first person and tony stark are always fun, so enjoy reading. also this is an AU off of infinity war if u couldn't tell.

“Protecting your reality, douchebag.” The wizard spat at me after our small little argument. It wasn’t my fault for getting so riled up after his cloak took a hit at me. ‘Not if we do our job’ bullshit. It was easy. Take his time stone and throw it out. 

“Okay guys, c-could we table this discussion right now?” Bruce interrupted my thoughts and my urge to throw a fist at the wizard’s nicely combed hair, though I continued to give the sorcerer supreme a death glare for a few more moments before turning my eyes at Banner, who was only trying to simmer the heat. 

“The fact is is that we have this stone. We know where it is.” He continued to explain as I tilted my chin up to contemplate his words. “Vision is out there somewhere with the mind stone and we have to find him now.” He began, and I gulped lightly, crossing my arms over my chest. That was a touchy subject, and I glanced down at the floor, awaiting the impending doom of what I was about to say. I gave Bruce one hesitant glance before I spoke. 

“Yeah, that’s the... thing,” I spoke dryly, and Bruce questioned me in confusion. 

“Two weeks ago,” My eyes went back to Bruce, realizing that I couldn’t backtrack my words. “...Vision turned off his transponder.” I paused, sighing. 

“He’s offline.” 

Bruce tilted his head in shock. “WHAT?” He questioned with a tinge of anger, and I began to walk away, desperately wanting to escape the questioning from him. But I knew I couldn’t. 

“Yeah.” I let out. 

Bruce huffed in response. 

“Tony, you lost another super bot?” I immediately defended myself in an effort to get Bruce to not get onto me about it. “I didn’t lose him. He’s more than that. He’s evolving.” I spat, my head turning to look at Banner before I shifted myself back to walking away. 

“Who could find him then?” I heard the wizard speaking the question I was dreading to hear right when I opened my damn mouth about Vision. I kept walking until I stopped, finally sighing to myself. God, here we go again, I realized. “Shit,” I muttered, throwing my head down. There was no going around him, was there?

“Probably Steve Rogers.” I answered, my eyes staring to the ceiling for a few moments, regretting that I even mention him again. 

“Oh, great,” was all I could hear from behind me. Was Rogers the only option here? 

“Maybe.” 

I digressed, but my brain was telling me it was a terrible idea after what had happened to us. 

“But…” 

The only idea swirling my mind was: find another way. I sighed lightly, feeling the tense energy in the room. 

I didn’t want to see Steve again. 

Maybe it was my arrogance that took ahold of my lack of cooperation, but it wasn’t like Steve left me on good terms. “Call him,” Bruce spoke into the silence, and I almost wanted to laugh. He didn’t understand what I’d been through, and there wasn’t enough time for him to comprehend it all now. “It’s not that easy,” I turned to face Bruce, my hand patting my leg. Bruce shook his head once more, even more dauntingly confused than a few minutes ago. That’s when I scoffed aloud; Bruce had missed way too much, and all because he was trapped with Thor. 

“God, we haven’t caught up in a spell, have we?” I was becoming impatient, not wanting to rest on the topic. 

“No.” Bruce harshly stated, his eyes wandering over mine for answers. 

“The Avengers broke up. We’re toast.” I shook my head, and if it was even possible, he looked overtaken with confusion. “Broke up?” His pupils kept flicking from one of my eyes to the other, and I stared at him solemnly. “Like a band? Like… like, the Beatles?” He questioned, and I tilted my head. “Cap and I fell out hard,” I admitted, and Bruce kept shaking his head as if he heard the world was going to end tomorrow. “We’re not on speaking terms,” I stated, and Bruce stepped closer to me, and I felt the anxiety begin to fill up like a bottle in my chest. 

“Tony, listen to me.” He urged, and I closed my eyes briefly, knowing what he was going to say. “Thanos is coming, it doesn’t matter who you’re talking to or not.” 

I peered off to the side, coming to the conclusion that our past was probably best to stay in the past. Bruce was right. The world was at stake, and the big purple giant was going to steal Vision’s stone if we didn’t get to it first. That’s when I turned my gaze to Bruce, and then to the two wizards before walking off to the corner of Strange’s sanctum. I let out one last breath before reaching into my back pocket of my jacket to pull out a flip phone. The one Steve mailed me in a stupid letter that I happened to read. I kept it for a while, and sometimes I didn’t know why. The dingy thing was small as I held it in my hands, and I popped open the top half, the screen lighting up to greet me. 

“Flip phone,” I muttered, the technology worse than I’d ever been accustomed to before. The small buttons were a pain in the ass to click as I scrolled through the options until I finally reached the contacts. I scoffed at the sight; funny enough, it was only Rogers who was listed as a caller. Time stood still as I stared down at the phone, my thumb hovering over the enter button. Was I really going to do this? I hesitated, my breath choppy before I finally decided that I needed to stop being a loser and man up. I clicked the call button.

I raised the phone to my ear, listening to the squeaking ring that practically killed my eardrums. The silence in the room was killing me, and a few seconds had passed without an answer. My eyes began to wander around the room, glancing at Bruce for a moment, who was awaiting Steve to answer me on the other end. My other hand involuntarily rubbed at my pants, anxiety and some past frustration filling me. Still, no answer after another few seconds which felt like long minutes had passed, and I concluded my attempt, beginning to move the phone away from my ear. But then, I heard something. The ringing had stopped, and there was a voice at the other end. I didn’t hear the first time, but I snapped the phone back to my ear when it came through again. 

“Hello? Who is this?” A distorted voice spoke, and I froze for a moment, registering that it was Rogers who was speaking on the other side. 

“Hello?” 

I could hear Rogers speaking again, and from static in the background, it sounded as if he was on some type of vehicle. I blinked once and took in a sharp inhale, seeing Bruce’s pleading nod. My eyes stared forward, my hand gripping the phone. 

“Hey. It’s me, Tony.” My tone was underlying with bitter resentment, my words coming out quick and eager to not speak for too long. 

There was silence from the other end, and I exhaled a shaky breath. Was he going to end the call? My thoughts swirled inside my head, telling me to hang up and never call back, but I was interrupted once more. “Tony? Are you okay?” Steve replied gruffly on the other end, and I closed my eyes, his words hitting a sour place in my heart that had already been damaged by him. I shook my head, recollecting my thoughts. “Myself? That's questionable. But, the world? Definitely not.” I muttered, my free hand digging into my pants. I almost couldn’t believe I was talking to him again, but now, I needed him. 

“Tony, what's going on?” Steve pushed, and I could hear how his voice became louder. I scratched my head, sighing as I paced. Even after all this time, he was still asking me if I was okay. After everything we’d been through. And it was apparent to me that I wasn’t the only one struggling. “What’s going on is…” I paused, thinking of the correct words. All the anger and the resentment and the urge to tell Rogers how I felt about us splitting went away. I silently glanced over to Strange, and then to his stone before my eyes fell to the floor. “What’s going on is that you and I need to be on the same side.” My lips flattened as I let my hand rub my forehead. 

“The world’s in danger, and you’re the only person who knows where Vision is. I hate to say it, but I need you, Rogers. I need your help.” I explained, but the overwhelming sensation that overtook me was nothing more than fearful. The world was in danger, and half of me wanted to deal with it on my own terms. Find Vision on my own. Not have to deal with Rogers. But, it wasn’t right. The world was in danger. And that meant Steve and I needed to work together again. Thanos was coming; the nightmare plaguing my thoughts for years. The rush of adrenaline every night I woke up next to Pepper, sweat beads dripping down my forehead. The same imminent terror running circles through my day to day life. And now, here he was. The most powerful creature any of us had to ever take on. And without the Avengers, who was going to avenge? I needed Rogers, as much as I hated that concept. I needed him now, because, without him, I wouldn’t be able to fight alone. 

There was another round of silence from his end. I held the phone tightly between my fingers, my breath was fast, apprehensive for his response. What was he thinking on the other side? As much as I was regretting to stay on the phone any longer, I knew I needed to. My pity party was mentally flushed down the toilet. In the midst of the static from the background, a voice spoke up again, without question. 

“Meet me at the facility,” He answered, and the odd sense of satisfaction eased me. 

Like a band-aid patching up a bruise. 

And that’s when the thought occurred to me; maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if I took his shield with me.


End file.
